Forbidden {Liu Yuxin x Cai Xukun}

{ch.2} I'm coming

Yuxin

As the song stopped, I tried to calm down as fast as possible. I silently scolded myself to picking such a fast-paced song for this audition.

Hugging and puffing, I struggle to stand up straight. Pain shot to my knees and I winced.

Shoot, it was coming back.

My knees had gotten better with time and proper care but recently I've been feeling more pain due to the heavy training I was going through in order to prepare for this audition.

"Thank you for your performance. We will let you know shortly about your results," the judge in the middle said to me. "You may now exit the room."

I bowed deeply to the judges and quickly turned around to exit the room when I met eyes with someone standing outside the room. That's...

"Cai Xukun?" I blurted aloud, flustered. Wait no, I should call him Kun PD now. As soon as our eyes met, he broke the action and turned around.

I opened the door to walk out and was startled by Kun who was standing near the door. I fought down a slight grin before acknowledging him.

Kun

"Hi Kun PD, what are you doing here?"

The sound of her voice brought me back to reality and forced me to calm myself down.

"Ahem," I cleared my voice. Come on Kun, you can do it. "I was just...um...pa-passing by," I responded trying to sound as calm as possible. I felt heat travel to my face and my heart began racing. Seriously Kun, was that the best answer you could think of?

"Ah... I see," she acknowledged with a slightly tilted head.

I mentally curse at myself. You blew it, Kun. You totally blew it. Now she thinks you're socially awkward and won't ever want to talk to you again.

Yuxin

I desperately tried to hold down an interested expression seeing his furrowed eyebrows and unsettled face.

He's kind of cute.

Thump.......thump.....thump...thump...

I froze. Why is it...speeding up?

I glanced up at Kun. No.

I can't.

Kun

I was startled when a suddenly horrified looking Yuxin bowed to me and excused herself, hurrying away down the hallway. Before I could say anything else, she had disappeared.

Did I scare her that badly? I sighed heavily to myself and headed back towards my room. Why did she act like that? I've gone through numerous ways of how I imagined our first encounter would end but this had never been one of them.

Did she run away because of me?

My steps were heavy as I reached my room. I entered the room to see my manager sitting on the floor packing her suitcase.

"Kun, you're back! Come here and pack your suitcase, we're going to the filming site tomorrow," she said as she gestured for me to come over.

I heaved a heavy sigh and began folding my clothes. Maybe doing something will take my mind off of her.

"Did something happen?"

I shook my head, still not saying anything.

I really wanted to tell her what had happened. To tell the truth, I just really wanted to tell someone, anyone. I wanted to ask them if they thought that it was my fault; if they thought that I'm reacting or it's true that I had scared her.

"Hey, stop. Look at me."

I turned around. My manager put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"I don't know why you're acting like this, maybe because something happened or because you're stressed and nervous about tomorrow. But please remember that I am your manager, and that I will be here for you no matter what."

I suddenly felt heavy stress be lifted off my shoulders. I was so invested in Yuxin that I didn't notice how much stress had been gathering on my shoulders. This is my first time taking the role of a judge on a competition and I am beyond nervous.

"Thank you," I responded gratefully. My manager is the best anyone could ever ask for. She is married and much older than me. I look to her as a mom figure, but also as a friend.

"Maybe you could also meet some nice girls while you're there."

I glanced at her with a shocked expression.

"I know, I know. Dating is something that is not the best for you at the moment, but maybe you could look into someone," my manager hurriedly explained herself. I sighed, understanding her care for me and acknowledged it.

She stood up and began walking to her bedroom. "Get some sleep Kun, tomorrow will be a long day for you. You might also want some energy to talk to the pretty girls," she added with a wink.

I threw my slipper, catapult-style, in her direction but sadly it fell just short of her. I groaned and stood up to pick it up and bring back to my suitcase.

After washing up, I climbed into my bed, exhausted. The thought of Yuxin came rushing back as I began nodding off.

"Kun PD!"

Yuxin's voice suddenly sounded in my head. I looked down to see her hand tightly intertwined with mine. I felt my face quickly heat up with the close interaction with her.

Thump....thump...thump..thump..

Yuxin swiftly glanced back at me with a huge smile. It was as if the sun revolved around her because she was glowing. Seeing her smile led a smile to grow on my face.

She suddenly turned around and paused in her steps. I see her tiptoe to bring her face closer to mine. Yuxin stood up straight and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I froze at her sudden advances.

As Yuxin's face gradually moved closer to mine, I began to close my eyes in anticipation. Why am I so excited?

Just as I was about to fully immerse myself in the moment, an abrupt ringing sounded near me. I furrowed my eyebrows in annoyance resulting in me forcing my eyes open unwilling.

"Wha-" I muttered as eyes began to focus.

"Wake up Kun," a female voice said to me.

"Yuxin?"

"No, it's me. We both overslept and now we're running late. Hurry up now!"

I groaned as I recognized my manager's demanding voice.

"By the way, who is Yuxin?"

I didn't respond, hoping that she will forget about this incident.

"Wait, isn't that the name of that trainee I talked to you about?"

I froze in my steps.

"Kun?"

I quickly walked out of my room and grabbed my suitcase. "Are we not running late already? Let's go," I said to her, trying to get her off of this topic.

My manager chuckled and grabbed her own suitcase. "Alright, I'll let you go this time. But I'm gonna keep a close eye on you."

I rolled my eyes and walked out the door without saying more to her.

Yuxin...I'm coming.